Model Checking Method for SPA Page Transition Based on Component-based Framework

Abstract

In recent years, because web applications have been handling increasingly important processing tasks, it is ever more important to avoid errors. Model checking is one verification method for detecting errors, whereby it is necessary to model the web application in order to verify it. However, typical web application developers may lack knowledge on creating the verification model. Furthermore, web applications have become increasingly diversified owing to web-browsing technological advancements and other factors. Among these, the single-page application (SPA) using a component-based web application framework, such as Angular, has attracted attention because of its excellent user experience. However, it makes modeling more difficult since the page structure is complicated by the intricate combination of components. In this paper, we therefore present a method to automatically generate verification models from source code and perform model checking. The method enables verification of SPA page transitions using the component-based framework. We apply our implemented automated tool to several applications. First, we experiment using sample applications that do not inject bugs and others that intentionally inject bugs. Moreover, we apply the method to real applications published on the Internet. The desired results are obtained, thereby confirming that the proposed method is effective.